"Down Year for Striped Bass Reproduction" by jdavidsburg, Maryland DNR, October 16, 2012. (Thanks to Ron Domurat for pointing the club to this article.)

Oct23

Written by:10/23/2012 7:49 PM

Biologists attribute the drop to weather conditions

The Maryland Department of Natural Resources (DNR) announced that the 2012 striped bass juvenile index – a measure of striped bass spawning success in Chesapeake Bay – is below the long-term average this year.

“While we expect large variation in striped bass reproduction from year to year and do not view this low value as an imminent problem, we will be carefully monitoring the results of future surveys,” said DNR Fisheries Director Tom O’Connell. “Three consecutive years of poor reproduction would be necessary to trigger mandatory conservation measures.”

This year’s striped bass juvenile index came in at 0.9, the lowest on record. Last year’s survey showed the fourth highest result in the 59-year history of the survey. The long-term average is 12.